I'm no pushover!

I can't believe the gall of some people. Just last night, a fellow resident of Graduate House, a girl from China I barely know, asked me for a favour. She asked me to help her re-write an ESL student's single-spaced page of writing, saying that it should take me 20-30 minutes. She offered absolutely nothing in return.

How could this girl ask me to do her this favour? Why didn't she offer me something in return? What could she possibly do for me? If there's anything she could do (e.g. cook me dinner sometime), why didn't she suggest anything? Why would I possibly want to expend 30 minutes of my precious mental energy to help her?

This is a girl I bump into while taking the lift once in a while, and whom I may see on the badminton court or in the canteens on the HKU campus. Until yesterday, we didn't know each others' names, though she probably knows who I am because of the whole Resident's Committee thing.

Some of you may think that 30 minutes isn't a big deal, and re-writing a single-spaced page isn't that much work, but I was quite shocked and quite insulted when she asked me for this favour. Honestly, did she think she could take advantage of me and my good nature? She gets the exact same amount of funding that I get. Didn't it ever cross her mind to offer to pay me? Or take me to lunch? Or buy me a drink? Actually, I'd rather just have the money. Why spend any more time with her than I need to? Anyway, her friend, the one who gave her my contact information (the Japanese girl who got the fewest votes during the RC election), asked me to proofread her work, and has offered to pay me. When I was in Canada, I helped one of my dearest friends proofread the chapters of his PhD thesis, and he paid me a very generous rate.

Anyway, I told her I'm not experienced in paraphrasing, insisted it would take more longer than just 20-30 minutes, that I've been getting busier and busier, and that I don't want to waste 30 minutes of my precious mental energy.


Oh yeah, two Fridays ago, I lent my pirated copy of the movie Closer to another resident from China. I barely know him, and can't even remember his name, but this guy attends the Friday night movie screenings regularly. He returned the DVD to me last Friday, and when I took a quick look at the DVD, I noticed that not only was it a bit scratched, it was dusty and had what seemed to be splash marks on it. I usually contain my disappointment and/or fury, but I gave him a scowl and asked, "what the hell did you do to my DVD, man? Did you just leave it out in the open all week? And what the hell are these? Splash marks? You've got to be kidding me. You've got to take better care of my DVD's, buddy." Believe it or not, he just shrugged and gave me this indifferent "I don't know what happened" look and said, "Actually, I also lent the DVD to my friend." MY GOD! I don't know what's worse: him lending my DVD to his friend without my permission, or one or both of these guys showing absolutely no concern about my DVD. I've decided not to lend my DVD's to anyone aside from my very close friends. Oh yeah, I noticed something else about this sonofabitch: he sat on the couch closest to the snack table, and he HOARDED the snacks. I suppose it was my mistake to forget to buy smaller plates. This guy filled his plate with Lays several times! FILLED! Lays are damned expensive in Hong Kong, by the way.

I'll still keep trying to be a nice guy, but I'll make it clear that I will not let people take advantage of me. In fact, I'll humiliate such people whenever I can. Some people may ask me to do them unreasonable favours and may think I'M the asshole for refusing them. If necessary, I'll make it clear to them and to others that THEY are the assholes. And of course, I'll warn my friends about such people. Shall I post pictures of these two scumbags?